Brown signs law replacing Enterprise Zones with tax breaks

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SAN DIEGO — Gov. Jerry Brown was in San Diego Thursday to sign legislation he said will help create jobs and grow the state’s economy.

The legislation — AB 93 and SB 90 — establishes the Governor’s Economic Development Initiative, which is aimed at bolstering the state’s business climate.

“This legislation will help grow our economy and create good manufacturing jobs,” Brown said. “Through our great university system and through the companies we have, California can build on the strength of intellectual capacity.”

Under the legislation, a statewide sales tax exemption will apply to manufacturing equipment or research and development equipment purchases for biotech and manufacturing companies, according to the governor’s office.

Hiring credits will be offered for businesses in areas with the highest unemployment rate and poverty, and California businesses will be able to compete for available tax credits based on the number of jobs to be created and retained, wages paid for those jobs, and other factors.

“With the signing of today’s bills, California now has real economic development programs in place that create new jobs,” said California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Art Pulaski. “And not just any jobs. Good jobs, middle class jobs, jobs that build communities and rev up our engine of economic growth.”

Brown signed the legislation at Takeda California, a La Jolla-area pharmaceutical company.

The initiative is to be funded by redirecting around $750 million annually from the defunct Enterprise Zone program.